Essay
The research question designed for this subject is How does commercial farming affect our natural resources and How does this affect us? To help us answer this question, let's grain some basic knowledge. Commercial farming is the production of crops and animals bred for sale, normally done with the help of modern technology. This land practice can be used anywhere, as long as there is enough soil to plant crops and to feed the animals. There are, unfortunately, no distinct areas that practice commercial agriculture. Thus, the climates and geography vary immensely. Finally, agricultural products will also vary, as different soil yields different crops, and biodiversity can only involve farm animals, like cows and chickens. Issues Commercial agriculture can be defined as the cultivation of crops across a wide area, performed by a single entity (usually a corporation or government) and though this type of agriculture produces high yields of a single crop, this sort of agriculture is resource intensive as well as being a contributing factor in the degradation of soil. It is estimated that over 34 percent of the united state's total water usage is for the purpose of irrigation, consisting of the most prevalant usage of water ot of all other water uses.In addition the agicultural industry (paticularly commercial agiculture)has a high dependency upon petroleum, using over 4.2 billion gallons of petroleum per year, fertilizers accounting for 20 percent of that petroleum usage.Furthermore the transportation of crops across the united states contributes not only to the petroleum usage but to an increase in carbon emissions as well. In all the perpetuation of commercial agriculture has constituted a significant strain upon natural resources Impact of Commercial Agiculture on Biodiversity In conjunction with the strain which commercial farms have upon natural resources, this agricultural method has, in recent years helped reduce the biodiversity of american ecosystems through three practices associatiod with commercial farming. The main factor that has aided the reduction of biodiversity in areas with intensive commercial agriculture has been the utilization of pesticides. the use of which (though provides adequete protection to crops)leaves several dead insects which have ingested the harmful toxins as a byproduct, in turn species which depend upon these insects as a food source(such as sparrows,various other birds, etc), often consume the dead insects and subsequently ingest the toxins. Secondly, in order for commercial agriculture to take place, the clearance of land must occur. often this involves the clearance of forest and grassland biomes, both of which serve as major centres of biodiversity in the united states. when land (for forests in paticular) is cleared, plant species which are native to that area disappear, and subsequently animal species which reside in that area, and are dependent upon those plants disappear as well due to the elimination of their habitat and food source,Thus drastically reducing the biodiversity of a region Lastly, commercial agriculture plays a major role in the degadation of soil, simply due to the repeated planting of identical crops, the main problem with this being the fact that most agricultural products require a high amount of nutritional content in the soil, and replenish few nutrients back into the soil, resulting in a significant decrease in soil quality and eventually the soil becoming unarable, making it difficult for not only farming but for the process of natural sucession. In short commercial agriculture has been a large contributor to the decrease of biodiversity in our enviornment. It is expident that this method should be replaced with more sustainable options Recommendations One manner by which sustainable farming may be executed, is through a method known as poly culture, which utilizes the growth of multiple crops in a single area, encoraging a diversity of plant species and products as well as enriching the soil. In addition land is used in a far more efficent manner, as a single plot is used for the cultivation of several crops, in order to reap a greater diversity in yields, preserve top soil and also encourage biodiversity itself. Polyculture however does not only limit itself to the cultivation of plants but the raising of fauna as well. As it also integrates elements of sustainable aqua culture as well, by imitating a natural marine enviornment. This is accomplished by the creation of an artifical pond in which algal blooms and plankton are inserted, after which various fish species which derive their sustanance from these autotrophs ,and their respective predators are put in as well to ensure a diversity of species cultivated. this element of aquaculture however manifests itself in the cultivation of crops in one important way; manure produced by the fish is used to fertilze crops, thus eliminating the need for petroleum fertilizers, and drasticlly reducing the amount of resources used in the cultivation process. Ultimatly, polyculture is a rather promising, sustainable alternative to the resource intensive commercial agriculture.